Soybean is the lowest-cost source of vegetable oil. Soybean oil accounts for about 70% of the 14 billion pounds of edible oil consumed in the United States and is a major edible oil worldwide. It is used in baking, frying, salad dressing, margarine, and a multitude of processed foods. Soybean is agronomically well-adapted to many parts of the U.S. In 1987/88 sixty million acres of soybean were planted in the U.S. Soybean products are also a major element of foreign trade since thirty million metric tons of soybeans, twenty-five million metric tons of soybean meal, and one billion pounds of soybean oil were exported in 1987/88. Nevertheless, increased foreign competition has lead to recent declines in soybean acreage and production in the U.S. The low cost and ready availability of soybean oil provides an excellent opportunity to upgrade this commodity oil into higher value speciality oils that add value to soybean crop for the U.S. farmer and enhance U.S. trade.
The specific performance and health attributes of edible oils are determined largely by their fatty acid composition. Soybean oil derived from commercial varieties is composed primarily of 11% palmitic (16:0), 4% stearic (18:0), 24% oleic (18:1), 54% linoleic (18:2) and 7% linolenic (18:3) acids. Palmitic and stearic acids are, respectively, 16- and 18-carbon-long, saturated fatty acids. Oleic, linoleic and linolenic are 18-carbon-long, unsaturated fatty acids containing one, two and three double bonds, respectively. Oleic acid is also referred to as a "monounsaturated" fatty acid, while linoleic and linolenic acids are also referred to as "polyunsaturated" fatty acids. The specific performance and health attributes of edible oils is determined largely by their fatty acid composition.
Soybean oil is high in saturated fatty acids when compared to other sources of vegetable oil and contains a low proportion of oleic acid relative to the total fatty acid content of the soybean seed. These characteristics do not meet important health needs as defined by the American Heart Association.
Recent research efforts have examined the role that monounsaturated fatty acid plays in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease. In the past, it was believed that monounsaturates, in contrast to saturates and polyunsaturates, had no effect on serum cholesterol and coronary heart disease risk. Several recent human clinical studies suggest that diets high in monounsaturated fat may reduce the "bad" (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol while maintaining the "good" (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol. (See Mattson, et al., Journal of Lipid Research (1985) 26:194-202). The significance of monounsaturated fat in the diet was confirmed by international researchers from seven countries at the Second Colloquium on Monounsaturated Fats sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institutes in 1987.
Soybean oil is also relatively high in polyunsaturated fatty acids--at levels far in excess of essential dietary requirements. These fatty acids oxidize readily to give off-flavors and reduce the performance of unprocessed soybean oil. The stability and flavor of soybean oil is improved by hydrogenation, which chemically reduces the double bonds. However, this processing reduces the economic attractiveness of soybean oil.
A soybean oil low in total saturates and polyunsaturates and high in monounsaturate would provide significant health benefits to human consumers as well as economic benefit to oil processors. Such soybean varieties will also produce valuable meal for use as animal feed.
Another type of differentiated soybean oil is an edible fat for confectionary uses. More than two billion pounds of cocoa butter, the most expensive edible oil, are produced worldwide. The U.S. imports several hundred million dollars worth of cocoa butter annually. The high and volatile prices and uncertain supply of cocoa butter have encouraged the development of cocoa butter substitutes. The fatty acid composition of cocoa butter is 26% palmitic, 34% stearic, 35% oleic and 3% linoleic acids. Cocoa butter's unique fatty acid composition and distribution on the triglyceride molecule confer on it properties eminently suitable for confectionary end-uses: it is brittle below 27.degree. C. and depending on its crystalline state, melts sharply at 25.degree.-30.degree. C. or 35.degree.-36.degree. C. Consequently, it is hard and non-greasy at ordinary temperatures and melts very sharply in the mouth. It is also extremely resistant to rancidity. For these reasons, a soybean oil with increased levels of palmitic and stearic acids, especially in soybean lines containing reduced levels of unsaturated fatty acids, is expected to provide a cocoa butter substitute in soybean. This will add value to oil and food processors as well as reduce the foreign import of certain tropical oils.
The partial purification of acyl-ACP thioesterase was reported from safflower seeds (McKeon et al., (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257:12141-12147). However, this purification scheme was not useful for soybean, either because the thioesterases are different or because of the presence of other proteins such as the soybean seed storage proteins in seed extracts.